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Taking stock

I am sorry for having been MIA this last week. As I expressed in my last post, I was feeling pretty discouraged, and I think this may have contributed to my missing my posts. My apologies! So here goes…

Plastic is hard to avoid. This is what I’m finding. At every turn, I am faced with the reality that plastic is everywhere, and it’s durable, and it’s convenient. However, according to Smithsonian.com’s EcoCenter, somewhere between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags were being consumed on this planet as of 2008. That is a lot of plastic bags. And most of them end up in the landfill. Or in the ocean, spiraling toward the Pacific Garbage Patch.

So what can we do? According to the same article on Smithsonian.com, bringing your reusable bags to the grocery store is a particularly high-impact change you can make. (Check out this list of other things you can do to reduce your plastic usage. I also found this list of 51 things you can do.) And for those pesky plums and acrobatic apples? Maybe try Flip and Tumble reusable produce bags. I have been struggling to find ways to carry my produce home without plastic, and I may have to invest in some of these. But then, of course, I’ll need to get into the habit of bringing them with me to the grocery store!

Changing our behavior and patterns can be hard. I’ve found myself stopping to pick up a couple of groceries while I’m out on other errands only to discover that I don’t have my cloth bag with me. I guess I’m having to practice being patient with myself. (Sigh). I have, however, found my BAGGU bag really useful, because it folds up neatly in a little pouch that fits easily in your backpack or purse. Also, when your bag wears out, you can send it back to be recycled and get a $1 credit towards a new bag!

So, until next time, I think I want to focus on plastic at the grocery store. This is where the bulk of my plastic comes from, so I think it’s a good place for me to focus. Thanks for reading, and I’ll keep you posted!